By Marcella Soewignjo, Staff Writer 

As we near the middle of the school year, many students look forward to school trips as a way to take a break from their stressful work loads. Despite the variety of trips THHS currently offers its students, many students shared a desire to have more options to go on trips in order to experience new things outside of the traditional educational setting.

Junior Xu Dong said, “I feel that Townsend doesn’t offer us enough opportunities to take a break from our school work and trips would be a good way to de-stress.” Sophomore Samuel Tsai, who has only been on two trips, one being a Robotics competition and the other being his freshman trip to a movie theater, added, “we barely get any, and it would be nice to get out every once in a while.”

Junior Michael Kim believes that trips encourage students to work harder in school. “I believe that we should have more fun incentive trips as it rewards us for working really hard and would promote successful behavior,” he explained.

Some wish that our school offered larger, unique trips as opposed to the smaller trips currently offered to students. “I’d probably want bigger, more extensive trips with hotel stays and traveling. Those kinds of things you don’t really do often,” Junior Hali Huang said. “On the other hand, I could go bowling or watch movies with friends anytime I wanted.” 

Senior Kelvin Yip shared a similar idea. “Going to a sports game would be nice. Maybe touring a corporate office or a big company,” he said.

A number of students agree that paying extra money to attend a trip is worth the experience. Xu said, “I honestly wouldn’t mind paying extra money to go on better trips. I feel that well thought out, more expensive trips generally generate better experiences.” Sophomore Ada Lin added, “Amusement parks or overnight trips would be a great idea, and I wouldn’t mind paying a little extra to go on those trips.”

Junior Kanny Ho Fang explained that school trips should not necessarily have an educational purpose. She stated, “I feel that many of the trips that I’ve been on so far have always tied back to academics which [can take] away from the fun experience of the trip.” In order for trips to receive official approval, they must relate to academic purposes in some way. 

However, some students feel that an increased number of trips would not be a good idea. Senior Andy Hoo believes it’s important to attend trips in moderation, as too many trips can hinder student performance in school. He commented that the “downsides to [trips] are the cost, possible lack of student involvement, and if frequent, less motivation to learn and less time being used to teach.”

Ultimately, most students can agree that trips offer them a good way to relieve stress and bond with their classmates. Senior Shane Werther said, “Some school trips have given me the most memorable experiences I could ever have.”